FLORENCE, Ore. - A surfer says he will return to the ocean after he was attacked by a shark that bit his foot, requiring more than 30 stitches.
Tom Larson was surfing Tuesday with a small group off the South Jetty when his buddy, Keenan Keeley, thought he saw a dorsal fin.

"We were like, 'No, dude, that's a porpoise,"' the 23-year-old welder from Eugene said. "We'd seen some porpoises in the water earlier."

Larson said conditions appeared safe - no wind, no ominous overcast skies, no sea lions barking, no dead fish on shore - and it was a calm, idyllic day for surfing.

He was trying to catch some waves still breaking clean as dusk approached when he suddenly felt something grab him by the foot, yanking him off his board. He looked down and saw a two-foot fin and an eight- to 10-foot long shark circling him.

"I heard him screaming," said Larson's brother Sam, 21. "I looked and saw him splashing, holding on to his board, half in the water. He had a complete look of terror on his face. All the color had left his face. I guess we were both in shock."

Sam Larson said he saw a black dorsal fin swimming around his brother before the shark lashed out with its tail and threw a bunch of spray. "That's when it grabbed him again," Sam Larson said.

His brother, pulled down to his chest in the water, says he stabbed at the shark with the tip of his surfboard three times, then missed. By the fifth stab, the big fish was gone.

"It just felt like a vice, a bear trap clamping down," the older Larson said. "There wasn't any pain probably because my adrenaline was going. The scariest thing was paddling in."

On shore, he surveyed his injuries. The bites had torn the toe off the surf bootie on his right foot, and he'd begun to bleed through his wet suit.

He wrapped a shirt around his wounds and limped to the car, shrugging off an ambulance called by a passer-by in favor of a free ride to Peace Harbor Hospital in Florence.

More than 30 stitches later on the eight lacerations on his right foot, Larson was recovering at his mother's house in Eugene on Wednesday. He pledged to get back in the water in a week or two.

"Nobody's ever been attacked twice," he said.

Shark attacks in Oregon remain quite rare. Since 2000, only three shark attacks have been recorded in state waters, according to West Coast shark researcher Ralph Collier.

(Florence, Oregon) – A Eugene man was bitten by a shark in waters just off Florence - on the central Oregon coast - Tuesday night, suffering several tears in his foot.

Tom Larson was surfing near the south jetty when he felt something grab his foot, saying it felt like a vise or a bear trap bearing down on him. It began shaking him, and Larson said he soon realized it was a shark when he saw the fin.

Larson said adrenaline took over and he repeatedly hit the shark with his surfboard until the fish let go. He immediately started screaming “Shark! Shark!” in an attempt to alarm his friends and get them out of the water.

He was able to paddle his way back to shore. He was treated at Peace Harbor Hospital in Florence and then released.

Now on crutches, Larson says he is not in much pain, feeling more pressure in his white, bandaged foot. He has eight holes in his foot, resulting in 35 stitches. He is expected to make a full recovery.

Sharks are sometimes seen a little more often from September through March. A man surfing in the cove at Seaside suffered a similar attack last year about this time, also smacking the shark on the nose until it let go.

Shark attacks in these cold waters are quite rare, however. Still, the episode has reportedly spooked a few surfers in the Florence area from returning to the waters for a while.

Florence -
A shark attacked a man surfing on the Oregon Coast taking two bites out of his foot. It's a rare occurrence but authorities still warn people to take caution.

The attack happened around eight o'clock last night. The surfer is from Eugene and he suffered only minor cuts and is doing just fine. Still, the news of the attack is keeping many other surfers out of the water.

On the surface, it looks like the perfect day to go surfing. But a couple of guys are packing up and leaving the South Jetty in Florence because of what might be lurking underneath the waves. "It's my worst nightmare," surfer Ian Kimball said.

"The surfer had to actually fight the shark off with his surfboard," paramedic Matt House said.

Surfers say, there's usually a dozen people or so surfing the waves, but news of the shark attack has pretty much emptied the waters. "Today, when I got down here, there was nobody so I should've thought something was wrong," Kimball said.

Paramedics with the West Lane Ambulance District say was lucky to have suffered only minor wounds. He was treated and released from Peace Harbor Hospital the same night. "Kind of like an abrasion. Just a light scratch that breaks the first layer of your dermis," House said.

House adds, shark attacks are rare--this was the only case he's ever heard of in the ten years he's been with the district. Still, he says they're out there and surfers should be aware. "They're kind of like scavengers and so when they see a surfboard up there they think it's a weak otter and so they try to go for a quick easy meal."

It's a warning that surfers are taking seriously. "We're going to go up to Winchester, I think and there's just other spots around that might be a little safer," surfer Nicholas Ingram said.

FLORENCE, Ore. -- A surfer who survived a shark attack off the Oregon coast, in Florence, Ore., said it was an event that "every surfer dreads."

Tom Larson, now recovering from eight puncture wounds, said he was riding the waves with friends on Tuesday when he spotted a fin in the water.

The shark clamped down on Larson's foot and pulled him under, but Larson grabbed his surf board and fought back, beating the shark with his board until it released his foot.

"It felt like a vice, or a bear trap, even, right on my foot, and he started shaking it, and I knew it was a shark by then, so I started screaming shark as loud as I could because my friends were in the water, and I wanted them to get out," Larson recalled. "And it didn't really hurt, there was just pressure, and I mean the fear and the adrenaline was amazing because you see that fin -- I didn't see his face, but I saw that fin -- so I knew what was happening, and every surfer dreads that."

A surfer who survived a shark attack off the Oregon coast said it was an event that "every surfer dreads."

Surfer Tom Larson's instinct kicks in when he feels a bite: Shark attack shakes him up
By Winston Ross
The Register-Guard
Published: Thursday, August 31, 2006

FLORENCE - The first sign of danger came right after the small pack of surfers hit the water Tuesday off the South Jetty. The wind was blissfully dead. Small waves were breaking just off shore. And Tom Larson's buddy Keenan Keeley thought he saw a dorsal fin.

"We were like, `No, dude, that's a porpoise,' " Larson said. "We'd seen some porpoises in the water earlier."

It didn't look "sharky" out, Larson recalled. No ominous overcast skies, no sea lions barking, no dead fish on shore. Just a calm, idyllic day for surfing.

As evening came, the sun dropped low in the sky. Larson angled his longboard out of the water to block the light. Normally, the group would have packed it in by then. But they'd driven from Eugene after work, and the waves were still breaking clean.

His feet dangling in the water, the 23-year-old welder says he suddenly felt something grab him by the foot, yanking him off the board. He looked down and saw a 2-foot fin and an 8- to 10-foot long creature, circling him.

"I heard him screaming," said Larson's brother Sam, 21. "I looked and saw him splashing, holding onto his board, half in the water. He had a complete look of terror on his face. All the color had left his face. I guess we were both in shock, because I couldn't see in color. Then at least two feet out of the water, I saw this black dorsal fin swimming around him. The tail lashed out and threw a bunch of spray. That's when it grabbed him again."

Tom Larson, pulled down to his chest in the water, says he stabbed at the shark with the tip of his surfboard - once, twice, three times, then missed.

"It just felt like a vice, a bear trap clamping down," the older Larson said. "There wasn't any pain - probably because my adrenaline was going."

By the fifth stab, the big fish was gone.

"The scariest thing was paddling in," Larson said.

On shore, he surveyed his injuries. The bites had torn the toe off the surf bootie on his right foot, and he'd begun to bleed through his wet suit. He wrapped a shirt around his wounds and limped to the car, shrugging off an ambulance called by a passer-by in favor of a free ride to Peace Harbor Hospital in Florence.

More than 30 stitches later on the eight lacerations on his right foot, Larson recuperated at his mother's house in Eugene on Wednesday, pledging to get back in the water in a week or two.

"Nobody's ever been attacked twice," he said.

Shark attacks in Oregon remain quite rare. Since 2000, only three shark attacks have been recorded in state waters, according to West Coast shark researcher Ralph Collier. None were fatal.

"Most of the interactions between white sharks and humans are the result of investigation" by the shark, Collier said. "The shark does not mistake the person for a seal, which has been proposed in many years."

Rather, with salmon and steelhead spawning this time of year and swimming from the ocean up rivers, sharks and sea lions often gather at river mouths.

Humans aren't a natural prey, so most sharks lose interest after getting a taste.

It was 4:00 pm Tuesday the 29th of August. Five surfers Nate, Eli, Keenan my brother Sam and I arrived at the south jetty in Florence Oregon. To our surprise there were 3-5 foot mushy peeling rights breaking 100-150 yards off shore and 50 ft south of the jetty. It was a great afternoon, just the five of us and good waves until around 6.45 pm. I was sitting on the back of my 9' yellow 1960's style log when I felt something grab my right foot. I assumed it was a sea lion that thought my foot was a fish (at this point the shark hadn't fully bit down; it had just mouthed my foot.) It pulled me off my board until I was floating chest deep in the water holding onto my board. A 2 ft fin surfaced in to my left and passed in front of my face. At this point I knew what was happening, and began to scream "shark" at the top of my lungs. The shark bit down on my foot and tried to dive deeper. Its tail kicked up a bunch of spray and it began to shake my leg violently. The only thing I could do, I don't even consider it a concise thought more like an instinct, was to stab at the shark with the tail and fin of my board. I landed 3 solid blows as the shark shook my leg and foot. On the 4th shot I missed and by the 5th time he had let go (the whole thing lasted 3-5 seconds but it felt like an hour). I jumped back on my board still screaming (I didn't stop until my fin hit the sand) and paddled for shore hoping my friends would do the same. The whole thing has been so unbelievable. I am really thankful for the support of my friends and family and hope to get back in the water soon.